Karen Ethnic Group in Southeast Asia - Essay Example

The Ethnic Groups in Southeast Asia-Karen Ethnic Group Karen tribe is well known for their long necks, for which they are called 'long neck' tribe orGiraffe tribe. Originally belonging to Myanmar a large of Karen tribe is also found in the hilly terrain of border areas of Thailand. Many of their women members put on typical brass rings around their neck, which helps in providing a separate identity to the tribe. This tribe is also known in Thailand as the Kariang or Yang. The Karens make up approximately 10 percent of the total Burmese population. History of Karen Ethnic Group Officially, there's no written evidence about the origin of Karen tribe, because of the persecutions of the tribe during different times in the history. But there are oral accounts in the form of folk tales, out of which some suggest that Burma is indeed their original home, but there are some folk tales which point towards their origin being China. The Karens have script of their own as well, which is often termed as 'chicken scratch script' because the script resembles the scratches made by the movement of a chicken when it moves on sand or soft soil. Smith (2003) stated that, "until the annexation of Burma in the nineteenth century, the Karens were largely a hill of forest-dwelling people without a written literature.as a result, the Karens appear as an ethnic group very much on the fringes of the recorded history." Myanmar has at least 15 major ethnic groups with Burman (Bamar) comprising about half the population. The population of Karen is the next highest with 6-7 million people. The last comprehensive census with ethnicity count was held in the year 1931, under the British Colonial government. Thereafter the Burmese government avoided the questions about separate ethnic identity (Bowles, 2000). Basically, the Karen tribe is known to be agriculturists, with Buddhism being the predominant religion amongst the tribe. A belief amongst the Karen tribe is that historically they have come from a place called "Thibi Kawbi". This is termed as their representation of Tibet and southern Gobi desert. As time passed, gradually during the 18th century, Karen began to move down south towards Thai Payap (old northern kingdom of Siam)1. The Karen tribe have been demanding an independent identity and land for them since early 1880s, with the formation of Karen National Association. At that time, Burma was under the colonial rule of Britain. After independence of Burma in January 1948, they tried to have a peaceful existence under the banner of Karen National Union (KNU), with some important posts in the government offered to Karen people. Situation started changing after the Military junta took over the country in 1960s. Subsequently, the demand for a separate land for Karen became more vocal. The military junta started adopting oppressive measures after it took over. As a result, a large number of Karen people were forced to leave their homes and fled into bordering Thailand with the result that many thousands of Karen are now living in Thailand, Australia and elsewhere as refugees. The strength of Karen fighters depleted with Burmese army declaring a full scale war against them in early 1990s and by 1995 the KNU headquarters at Manerplaw fell to Burmese army. Culture and Religion The brass rings around the necks of Karen tribe people are stated to be because of a number of reasons2. Some say it is done to prevent tigers from biting them; appears to be a credible defense, because the tiger prefers to pull the life out of a human being with a firm grip around the neck. Another version is that it is practiced to make women less attractive, so that there is less likelihood of them being captured by the slave traders. But, there is still another version which finds that this is being practiced to make women for attractive, so that they are able to attract a better husband. Besides the neck ring, large sized ear-rings also make an important component of the beauty products of the womenfolk. As the age of young girls increases the size of the earlobes keeps on increasing, thus often resulting in elongation of ears of the ladies. Marriage is considered an important part of a woman's life. Young girls can be seen with whiter dresses, indicating that they are yet to be married. On the occasion of marriage the girls will put on a colorful dress weaved by them. In fact the girl will also prepare a new dress with her own hands for her would be husband as well, which he is supposed to put on at the time of marriage. The importance of marriage in the life of a woman can be gauged from the fact that even when a woman dies unmarried, she is cremated with the clothing of a married women, ostensibly to make sure that bad spirits don't haunt her during the afterlife as well. The traditional dress of Karen tribe is knowns as 'Hse', worn by both men and women. This dress comprises of3 'two oblong pieces of cotton cloth joined at the sides to form a "sack" with a hole for the neck at the top and two holes for the arms on either sides of the sack'. Most of these dresses are embodied by the Karen women. White, Red and Blue are the traditional colors for dresses worn by the Karen community. White color indicates purity, red is indicative of the braveness for which Karen community is known while the blue color is indicative of loyalty. A large number of Karenians practice Buddhism as their religion, but Christianity too was adopted by the Karen community when missionaries came over to the region. It is said that the Portuguese soldiers and traders were the first Christians to set foot around the Karen tribe and subsequently in 1554, first Catholic priest came over to serve as chaplains (Go, 1993). But, those were the early days and Christianity was not one of the dominant religions in the region till the onset of 19th century. The indigenous people of Burma belong to a wide variety of cultures and traditions. With around 135 indigenous cultures and languages, Akha, Arakanese, Karen, Kachin, Lahu, Lisu, Mon, Naga, Palaung, Shan, and Wa are some of the prominent tribes across the country (Bowles, 2000). Karen is known as one of the fiercely independent group comprising more than 3 million people preserving their independent identity, speaking a language separate from Burmese, using their own ancient writing system and traditionally in opposition with the military junta (Faiola, 2006). Historians argue that the Karen language is not well understood by linguists. The Karen community has traditionally been into agriculture as a way of life. They till and sow lands traditionally passed on to them by their ancestors. Therefore, they have their hamlets near to the agricultural land. Thus their houses have traditionally been in the form of huts made up of bamboo sticks as walls and dry grass forming the roof. But at times change the Karen community too has started constructing cement and concrete houses. The levels of education too has started going up. In fact out of the hundreds of thousands displaced Karen tribesman who were forced to take shelter in neighboring Thailand, many have been relocated to countries like US, Canada, Australia etc. with consistent support and guidance from UNHCR and the respective governments. Those having shifted to these locations have taken up educational courses and busy working their way in the industry, but those back home are still suffering persecution at the hand of the military rulers, who have considered all Karen people as part of armed resistance. A UNHCR report (LSG, 2007) states that after the major offensive against the Karen National Union (KNU) by the Burmese government in 1997, majority of the group followers fled towards Thailand. The report indicates that over one million Burmese refugees have sought asylum in Thailand after the beginning of Karen independence movement in 1950s. The frog drum (Klo) and the cow horn (Kwe) are ceremonial musical instruments depicting traditional cultural items of Karen community. The Klo is made with bronze alloy with the figures of frogs and elephants forming the decorative part. A figure of sun is marked at the centre of the drum. This depicts the centre of universe. Concentric circles radiating out from the central circle indicate the power being radiating out of the centre of the universe. Frogs decorate the outer periphery of the drums surface. The Klo is played to seek blessings during events like weddings, festivals, and funerals. Another instrument Kwe is made up of the horn of a cow or buffalo and it is a blow instrument. Kwe is also blown during ceremonies and festivals. New Year celebration is one such event for blowing these instruments. It is worthwhile here to mention that the Karen Calendar comprises of 13 months and the New Year coincides with Pyathoe, an event to mark the harvesting of rice. January 31 is also celebrated as Karen revolution day, as on this day in 1949 the KNU declared war on the Burmese army for its atrocities against the community. The present condition of Karen tribe can at best be termed as stable with scores of their people still suffering at the hands of the Military rulers of Burma and many thousands in the refugee camps in different countries. There seem to be no end to the exodus with fresh offensive of the Myanmar army beginning in June 2009 in an effort to flush out the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA). This fresh offensive is seen as an effort by the Military to prepare for another round of elections by the year 2010. It needs to be mentioned here that the last general elections held in 1990 were won by the National League for Democracy (NLD), led by Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. But the Military refused to hand over power to the new government even after a landslide victory and put Aung San Suu Kye behind bars instead. Therefore, the problems of Karen tribe are still far from being over. The Economist (2006) in one of its reports indicates that those living in refugee camps, can be termed as living a decent and respectable life as compared to many thousand others who have spread over to different parts of Thailand as illegal migrants. References: 1. Bowles, Edith (2000). 'Human Rights, Forgotten Wars, and Survival: Burma's Indigenous Peoples'. Cultural Survival Quarterly. Cambridge: Oct 31, 2000. Vol. 24, Issue. 3; pg. 8. 2. Faiola , Anthony (2006). 'Burma wages large offensive against minorities.' Available online at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15757111/ (Nov 21, 2009) 3. Go, Khup Za (1993). 'A Brief History of Christianity in Burma (Myanmar)'. Available online at http://zoaw.info/a-brief-history-of-christianity-in-burma-myanmar-by-khup-za-go/ (Nov 21, 2009) 4. Karen Website(2000). , Karens Around the World Unite'. Available online at http://www.karen.org/ (Nov 21, 2009) 5. LSG (2007). Refugee Groups, Their history and culture- The Burmese-From a UNHCR Source. http://www.lsga.org/Programs/Refugee/Burmese.htm (Nov 21, 2009) 6. Smith, Martin (2003). 'Burma: The Karen Conflict'. In Encyclopaedia of Modern Ethnic Conflicts, edited by Joseph R. Rudolf Jr. London and Connecticut: Greenwood Press. 7. The Economist (2006). 'South-East Asia's refugees: A burden but also a boon'. The Economist, Sep 21st 2006. 8. The Travelers' Club (2004). The Hilltribe People of Thailand. Available online at http://www.tayara.com/club/hilltribe.htm (Nov, 22, 2009) 9. Waddington, R. (2002). 'The Karen. The Peoples of the World Foundation'. Available online at http://www.peoplesoftheworld.org/textpeople=Karen (Nov 22, 2009) Read More